Joy, Robert
Joy, Robert (1722–85), printer, manufacturer, and philanthropist, was born probably in Belfast, second son of Francis Joy (qv), attorney, paper manufacturer, and printer, and Margaret Joy (née Martin). He was named for his maternal…...
Kean, Michael
Kean, Michael (1761–1823), miniaturist and owner of the Derby porcelain factory, was born in Dublin and educated at the Dublin Society's drawing school, established in 1746 to give instruction concentrating on figure- or life-drawing, drawing from the antique, and ornament-drawing…...
Kearney, Denis
Kearney, Denis (1847–1907), labour activist in America, was born 1 February 1847 at Oakmount, Co. Cork, second son among seven children. Orphaned, he left home (1858) to go to sea, eventually reaching the rank of first officer on an American steamer. Ten years later he visited San…...
Keatinge, Maurice Bagenal St Leger
Keatinge, Maurice Bagenal St Leger (c.1761–c.1835), soldier, politician, and writer, was the only son of Maurice Keatinge (d. 1777), high sheriff of Co. Kildare (1774) and MP for Harristown (1776–7), and his wife, Catherine, daughter of Walter Bagenal of Dunleckney…...
Kellett, Sir Henry
Kellett, Sir Henry (1806–75), vice-admiral (RN) and polar explorer, was born 2 November 1806 at Clonacody, Co. Tipperary, son of John Dalton Kellett; nothing is known of his mother. His cousin was Commander Arthur Kellett, RN. He entered the Royal…...
Kemmy, James Joseph Oliver Mary (‘Jim’)
Kemmy, James Joseph Oliver Mary (‘Jim’) (1936–97), trade unionist, Labour politician, and local historian, was born 14 September 1936 in O'Curry St., Limerick, eldest of three sons and two daughters of Michael Kemmy and Elizabeth Kemmy (née Pilkington). His mother came from farming…...
Keyes, Michael John
Keyes, Michael John (1886–1959), Labour politician and trade unionist, was born 21 March 1886 at 41 Blackboy Pike, Limerick city, the second son of Michael Keyes, caretaker, and his wife Hannah (née White). After being educated by the Christian Brothers at Sexton Street, Limerick…...
Kirker, James
Kirker, James (1793–1852/3), scalp-hunter and frontiersman, was born on 2 December 1793 in Kilcross, Co. Antrim, the son of Gilbert Kirker, a grocer of Carnaghlis, Co. Antrim, and his wife Rose (née Anderson). His paternal ancestors had fled Scotland for Antrim in the 1680s to escape…...
Kyan, John Howard
Kyan, John Howard (1774–1850), brewer and inventor, was born 27 November 1774 in Dublin, son of John Howard Kyan (d. 1804), mining engineer, of Mount Howard and Ballymurtagh, Co. Wicklow. The United Irishman Esmond Kyan (qv) who was hanged…...
Kyle, Samuel (‘Sam’)
Kyle, Samuel (‘Sam’) (1884–1962), trade unionist, was born into a protestant family in Belfast; no other details of his family are known. Educated locally, he began working in a Belfast linen mill in 1899. His interest in trade unionism was sparked instantly, and within a few years…...
Lamport, William
Lamport, William (1611?–1659), adventurer, was baptised in Wexford town, Co. Wexford, soon after his birth, which was probably on 25 February 1611, though he later claimed it occurred up to four years later. He was the youngest of four children of Richard Lamport, a ship's pilot of…...
Larkin, Denis
Larkin, Denis (1908–87), trade unionist and politician, was born 8 June 1908 in Rostrevor, Co. Down, the second of four sons of the legendary Irish trade unionist James Larkin (qv) and Elizabeth Larkin (née Brown), the daughter of a lay…...
Larkin, James
Larkin, James (1904–69), trade unionist and politician, was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, eldest of four sons of James Larkin (qv), trade union leader, and Elizabeth Larkin (née Brown), daughter of a baptist lay preacher from Co.…...
Larkin, James
Larkin, James (1874–1947), labour leader, was born 28 January 1874 at 41 Combermere St., Toxteth, Liverpool, England, second eldest of three sons and three daughters of James Larkin, foundry labourer, and Mary Ann Larkin (née McNulty, McAnulty, or McNalty). His birth certificate gave no…...
Lawlor, John
Lawlor, John (1860–1929), handball player and labour politician, was born in Glendon, Pennsylvania, USA. His family moved to Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow, when he was 2 years old, before moving in 1870 to Patrick St., Dublin. As a young man, Lawlor played many games at the nearby Kenny'…...
Leared, Arthur
Leared, Arthur (1822–79), physician and traveller, was born in Wexford, son of Richard Leared, merchant. He graduated BA (1845), MB (1847), and MD (1860) from…...
Legge, Thomas
Legge, Thomas (d. 1808), traveller and mystic, was born in Donaghadee, Co. Down, the son of a ship-owner who transported Irish emigrants to America. Little else is known about his family background, although towards the end of his life he reportedly told a Scottish doctor that his…...
Leonard, Arthur Glyn
Leonard, Arthur Glyn (1856– p.1909?), soldier, ethnographer, and Rhodesian pioneer, was born in August 1856 in Ireland. In 1873 he joined the 2nd Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, serving as a transport officer in India and in conflicts in Afghanistan, Egypt, and the Sudan,…...
Leslie, Charles Henry
Leslie, Charles Henry (1767?–1841?), banker and founder of Ballincollig Powder Mills, Cork, was possibly baptised 21 February 1767 in Christ Church, Cork, second son among three sons and a daughter of Charles Leslie, medical doctor, and Ann Leslie (née Lawton) of Cork. His father…...
Lloyd, Edward
Lloyd, Edward (d. 1847), army officer and explorer, was born at Beechmount, Rathkeale, Co. Limerick, the fifth son of Colonel Thomas Lloyd of Beechmount and his wife Ellen, daughter of Thomas Lloyd of Kildromin and Drumsallagh, Co. Limerick. He was commissioned ensign in the 54th…...
Locke, James Harvey
This is a co-subject for the entry on Locke, John. View the original entry....
Locke, John
Locke, John (1807–68), distiller, was the only son of John Locke (d. 1849) of Monasterevin, Co. Kildare, distiller, and his wife Jane (née Smithwick) (d. 1848) of the Kilkenny brewing family. His father was originally a merchant in Monasterevin but later moved the family to…...
Locke, John Edward
This is a co-subject for the entry on Locke, John. View the original entry....
Lord, Cyril
Lord, Cyril (1911–84), textile and carpet manufacturer, was born 12 July 1911 in Manchester, England, son of Richard Lund Lord, of Manchester, Co-operative Society stores clerk and later retail manager, and Kate Lord (née Hackney). Educated at the Central School Manchester and the…...
Lynch, Henry Blosse
Lynch, Henry Blosse (1807–73), explorer, was born 24 November 1807 at Partry House, Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, third among eleven sons of Maj. Henry Blois Lynch, a soldier who had served with distinction in Portugal, and Eliza Lynch (née Finnis). At the age of 15 he joined the Indian…...